


you call me lavender, you call me sunshine

by aestheticzjm



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: "enemies" used in the loosest of terms tbh, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Isak is grumpy, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, What's new, changed the title oops, clearly idk how 2 tag, even is cute, failed attempt at writing sexual tension???, so this is a play on the tattoo parlor/flower shop trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 16:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15465486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestheticzjm/pseuds/aestheticzjm
Summary: Isak snorted. "You run a flower shop?" It was a little ridiculous, in all honesty. The fact that the small pastel pink shop was run by the boy in front of him, and was placed across a tattoo parlor all seemed a little bit too cliché.Even surveyed the smaller boy, looking wholly unimpressed. "Yes, I do. And I would appreciate it if you could remove your customers from the premises of my shop so I can actually earn some money for once." Isak tried his best to not burst out laughing at the serious tone of Even's words, shaking his head. Who the fuck did he think he was?— or the one in which isak is forced to look over a friend's tattoo parlor and even works at the flower shop across the street.





	you call me lavender, you call me sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhhh idk either ?? i've always wanted to write a fic with this trope and this is the result of that !!! apologies for my bad writing but i hope that someone enjoys this anyways :,,,)

i. Isak was probably the grumpiest boy in all of Oslo. It hadn’t been a secret before, with Eskild constantly pestering him about his indifference towards life, but it was even _less_ of a secret now, as Isak openly scowled down at the steel counter below him. When he had heard from Eva that Noora and William were going on some sort of romantic vacation together over autumn break, he couldn't be happier for them. Really. But then five minutes later, when Eva passively mentioned that she might have told Noora that Isak would be willing to look over William's tattoo shop while he was away, Isak almost exploded. 

Because first of all, why would Eva ever think that Isak was the right person to do such a thing? One of his biggest fears was needles and the thought of even entering a tattoo shop made him sick to his stomach. Second of all, Isak had absolutely no experience managing _anything_ , much less a shop that he had not so much as seen before. And third of all, Isak was barely eighteen and definitely had no sort of credentials to his name, so was looking over this shop even legal? Eva had cut him off at this point with a roll of her eyes, claiming that he was being dramatic and that Isak was the only option that they had left. Which he really didn't understand because Chris and Jonas both literally worked as tattoo artists at said shop and definitely had far more experience and knowledge than he did. Yet there he was at 4 p.m. on a Tuesday, standing behind the counter at the front of the shop, where he was expected to greet customers and go over what they wanted and the fees and so on and so forth.

While his main job was primarily to make the customers feel welcome and even have them bounce ideas off of him for what tattoos they might get, he was also expected to actually go further into the shop and monitor the artists, but there was no way in hell that he would be doing so. Simply hearing the buzz of the needles made his knees week and his stomach flip. So he stayed in his position behind the counter, greeting the customers with a fake smile and hoping that none of them were expecting him to calm their nerves before getting their tattoos —- truth be told, he was probably more nervous than them.

So there he was, simply minding his business, when the bell behind the entrance door chimed loudly and the door was opened with far more force than necessary. Isak's green eyes shot up to rest on the person that had entered the shop and his breath caught in his throat.

It was a boy that looked to be about his age, maybe a little older, and God, was he _stunning_. His hair was done up in a way that he would probably find obnoxious on anyone else but looked so damn good on him, and his eyes were a lovely shade of blue that Isak could get lost in far too easily for his own liking. He was appealingly tall and lanky, however Isak couldn't help but notice the rather odd ensemble that he had on. He was wearing a simple white shirt and black trousers, but over the shirt was a dark green apron with what looked to be a name tag on it. Had he just come from work to get a tattoo? Odd, but Isak wasn’t judging.

He was about to open his mouth to greet the beautiful boy when he was cut off by the other's deep voice. "Can I speak to the manager of this establishment, please?" And he sounded out of breath, as if he had ran to the shop and was still recovering. The words were clipped, sounded angry, and Isak couldn't help the twinge of annoyance he felt at the fact that the other boy ( _Even_ , as his nametag read) had automatically assumed that he wasn’t the manager — technically he wasn’t but _still_.

"Well, you're speaking to him." Isak replied, the words short as he met Even's gaze defiantly.

" _You're_ the manager?" The taller boy's disbelief bled into his words and Isak felt himself getting even more worked up. Yes, it may have looked odd that he, a small blonde kid with a backwards snapback and blue flannel on was managing a tattoo parlor but there he was. And there was nothing that he hated more than being looked down upon. So he stood his ground, continuing to stare head-on at Even and wondering whether the tension between them was purely out of anger or something _more_.

"Okay, fine. Whoever you are, I need you to get rid of the three men loitering outside," He turned slightly to gesture at the men outside the tattoo parlor, and sure enough, there was a group of men, all big and burly with matching leather jackets. They were regulars at the parlor, two of them on the road to completing full tattoo sleeves while the other one seemed to tag along for moral support. They were the typical embodiment of what one would imagine regular tattoo parlor clients to look like — all with large beards and huge motorcycles. "They're scaring off my customers." Even finished, voice tinged with exasperation as he turned back to Isak.

Now, the curly haired boy had never really taken note of the other shops around the tattoo shop, usually stumbling in the parlor half-asleep in the mornings, and tired in the afternoons, so he hadn’t ever tried to survey the neighboring shops. He figured that it was pointless, considering he'd only be there for three weeks — it was the third day, as he was painstakingly counting. So Isak stared at Even in confusion, eyebrows knitted down into a slight frown. "Your customers?"

Even nodded, looking as if he was fighting the urge to roll his eyes as he gestured to the shop across from them on the street. Isak ducked a little so that he could read the shop's name through the transparent entrance doors, " _Blomster og mer"_ across the top of the shop in gold, loopy writing.

Isak snorted. "You run a flower shop?" It was a little ridiculous, in all honesty. The fact that the small pastel pink shop was apparently run by the boy in front of him, _and_ was placed across a tattoo parlor all seemed a little bit cliché. Whose brilliant idea was it to even open a flower shop a few metres away from a tattoo parlor that was always blaring russ music — despite the fact that William had graduated a year and a half ago, Isak couldn’t help but note that many of the tattoo parlor's playlists contained music that played at most of the parties that _he_ attended — and had many customers that resembled the men stood outside the parlor. _Of course_ it would scare away Even's customers, he ran a flower shop, for fuck's sake.

Even surveyed the smaller boy, looking wholly unimpressed. "Yes, I do. And I would appreciate it if you could remove your customers from the premises of my shop so I can actually earn some money for once."

Isak tried his best to not burst out laughing at the serious tone of Even's words, shaking his head. Who the fuck did he think he was? See, Isak wasn't an asshole. Not by any means. And in any other situation, he probably would've agreed and just went outside and asked the men to stop loitering. But something about Even was bothering him and he decided that he wanted to be difficult so he simply shrugged his shoulders. "They're not _in_ your shop, technically. Neither of us owns the road between both our shops so I guess there's not much I can do, huh?"

It took all of Isak's strength not to pull out his phone and take a picture of the look that Even gave him. He looked completely _scandalized_ at the mere thought that Isak wasn't willing to make any attempt to get rid of the men. The taller boy opened his mouth as if he was about to say something else but then promptly closed it again, frowning at Isak before turning on his heel and angrily making his way out of the shop.

"What the fuck." Isak said out loud to no one in particular, squinting a little to watch Even through the tattoo parlor entrance, as he marched his way to the men and presumably told them to leave. To Isak's surprise, they actually listened and made their way to their motorcycles while talking amongst themselves. Even turned around and caught Isak's eye with a satisfied smile playing on his lips, and Isak's head tilted. There was something in his gaze that told the blonde it wouldn't be the last that he saw of him, and Isak honestly couldn't say that he minded.

 

ii. Two days had passed since the _strange_ encounter with Even and any thought of the handsome boy had long left Isak's mind by then. He had found himself contemplating even going to work on Friday morning, but unfortunately he didn't have much choice as he was the only one that possessed the keys to unlock the small parlor. This autumn vacation was stacking up to be one of the worst that he had yet, probably second to the one that he had spent with Eva and Jonas at her aunt's cabin. So what if he was a little grumpier than usual because he hadn’t been given the freedom to stay in bed all day and watch Narcos; he was allowed to be as grumpy as he pleased. 

So when he walked to the tattoo parlor with his sweater hood up and N.W.A blaring on his earphones, trying to drown out the world around him, it was barely a surprise that he didn’t notice the mess on the ground leading up to the parlor. It was only when he was about to unlock the doors when his gaze met the ground and his eyes almost doubled in size. After removing his earphones and turning a bit, Isak let out a little groan as he realized that about two feet of the pathway behind him had been covered with flowers. And they weren't the pretty kind either, looked more like the flowers that simply weren't fresh enough to be put on the shelves so they would have been tossed in the trash anyways. And that made it that much _worse_ , because the boatload of flowers looked as if they were a few hours from going rotten and now Isak had to somehow clean it all up.

He could practically feel the anger bubble up from inside of him and he stormed angrily to Even's small shop. He roughly opened the doors without much abandon, heading straight in the golden haired boy's direction without taking note of the few other customers in his shop. "What the _fuck_?"

Even had been busy fiddling with some stuff behind the counter and he instantly flinched when he heard Isak's voice, looking up in surprise. The smaller boy watched as Even averted his gaze and smiled sheepishly at an old lady who looked rather taken aback due to Isak's profanity. The taller boy then walked towards him and (much to Isak's surprise) gripped onto his shoulder so that he could lead him to a quieter corner. Isak shrugged off Even's hand almost immediately, trying his best to ignore the way that his stomach flipped at the taller boy's strong fingers on him. 

"What. The. Fuck." Isak repeated slowly, not making much of an attempt to quiet down as he glared at Even. He watched as the other boy's lips slowly curled up into a small smile, accompanying the smug look with a shrug of his shoulders. "Did you get my present? I really thought you'd like it." Even said, looking so innocent that Isak honestly would have believed that he hadn’t done anything wrong if he couldn't see the mischievous glint in his eye.

"I don't know who the _fuck_ you think you are, but you're crazy if you think that I'm cleaning up that shit," Isak said lowly, resisting the urge to jab his finger on the taller boy's chest to really make a scene. This whole ordeal was ridiculous, honestly. What kind of person thought that the best way of getting revenge would be to throw a bunch of spoiled flowers on the ground outside a tattoo parlor? A real genius, apparently, because Isak found himself getting more and more worked up the longer that he stared at the other boy. Truthfully, he wouldn’t have given a fuck about this whole situation and would have just let the flowers remain if it was _anybody_ else that had thrown them there, but Even's smug expression was pissing him off.

"Well, I believe that those flowers were actually placed outside your tattoo shop and not in it. If I recall correctly, someone once told me that it doesn't count because neither of us owns the road between both our shops and that's where the flowers are."

Isak stood dumbfounded, balling his fists at his sides and taking a deep breath in through his nose. _Be the bigger man, Isak_ — not literally, of course, as Even had quite a few inches on him. "Your flowers are ugly as fuck." He muttered, before dramatically turning on his heel and making his way out of the shop. He didn't miss the soft chuckle that Even had let out once he had turned away and Isak mentally cursed his heart for skipping a beat at the sound. And yes, perhaps _your flowers are ugly as fuck_ wasn't the most mature thing to say in that sort of situation but he didn't care. He was mad, and it was indeed true that the flowers were kind of ugly.

As he walked back over to the tattoo parlor, hands shoved in his pockets, he was greeted by Jonas standing outside the locked shop, looking as confused as ever. "What's all this?" The brunette asked, gesturing to the ground.

Isak rolled his eyes before stepping forward and unlocking the doors, entering the parlor and pausing for Jonas to follow, still waiting for an explanation. "I'll have it cleaned up, just give me a minute," Isak replied simply, pinching down on the bridge of his nose and counting to ten slowly — it was something that his school doctor, Dr. Skrulle, had advised him to do when he found himself getting angry but he really didn’t think it was helping much at that moment.

"Who was that guy you were talking to in that shop?" Jonas asked curiously, bushy eyebrows raising as he gave Isak a knowing look. Fuck Jonas for being able to read him so well.

"Just some asshole," Isak replied under his breath, walking further into the empty parlor to find some sort of broom or something so that he could sweep away the stupid flowers. Was that how cleaning worked? He honestly wasn’t sure.

"Pretty good looking guy though," Jonas commented, to which Isak just had to turn around and throw Jonas a disdainful look — " _What the fuck_ , Jonas."

 

iii. Another few days passed by rather uneventfully, but that didn't stop Isak's blood pressure from rising every time he looked out of the parlor and saw Even in his own shop. If they were playing a game of chess ( _that's a fucking weird comparison to make, bro,_ Mahdi had pointed out when Isak told him about his woes at a party), Even had made the last move and it was now Isak's turn. But as he had decided a couple of days ago, he was going to be the bigger man. He only had to do this stupid job for one more week now and he could handle it without exploding from frustration. Really.

And truth be told, he really was _this_ close to not doing something else to piss Even off. He never would have done anything if it hadn’t been for Vilde and Magnus entering the parlor on a Wednesday afternoon.

He knew that they were just there to check on him and the parlor, to ensure that he hadn’t burned the place down yet — "If you're so worried about it, then why don't you and William just come back from London and check for yourselves?" Isak had said harshly on the phone to Noora, before immediately feeling bad and sheepishly apologizing for his shitty mood — and ever since that phone call, Noora had been asking her friends to check on Isak so that she didn’t need to call him. And it was quite obvious that that was exactly what they were doing, so he had no idea why everyone continued to pretend that they were just there for him.

"Hey, bro!" Magnus greeted excitedly as him and Vilde made their way to the counter with matching smiles on their faces. The words barely registered in his mind however, as his eyes zeroed in on the huge bouquet that Vilde was holding.

"Where did you get that from?" Isak questioned, gesturing at the large bouquet of roses, already anticipating what Vilde was going to say.

"Oh, Magnus bought it for me at the shop right across the street. Isn't he just the best boyfriend ever?" Vilde cooed, reaching over and pinching the other boy's cheeks as he dopily grinned at her, looking as in love as one could look. "Isak, have you met the boy that works at the flower shop? He's so charming and lovely, I really think you should make more of an effort to welcome the customers here like he does! You know, he actually asked us what your name was and we also realized…" The rush of blood in his ears due to anger drowned out the rest of whatever Vilde was prattling on about, and he found himself getting irritated all over again. 

So half an hour later, when six of the parlor's customers were standing outside Even's shop, all with cigarettes between their fingers, Isak really couldn't be blamed. So what if customers generally smoked behind the tattoo parlor instead of walking across the street to smoke outside the flower shop? Isak certainly had no control over where his customers decided to smoke — it wasn't like he had practically pushed them out of the doors and claimed that the back door was jammed. He would never do such a thing.

The blonde watched eagerly as Even finally took note of the numerous people outside his shop, and it was like Isak saw the moment that his features contorted downwards into a frown. It was only a few moments later that Even came barging into the parlor, apparently not having any customers of his own to attend to.

"I told you that you can't have people outside my shop!" The taller boy exclaimed, and Isak simply shrugged as he pretended to be more interested with examining his nails than the other's face.

"I don't see what they're doing wrong, really." He replied indifferently, finally looking up to meet Even's eyes. Just looking at him made Isak remember the forty five minutes that he had spent getting rid of the flowers the other day and so truth be told, it was extremely satisfying to have ticked the other boy off.

"Come on, you know that they're driving away my customers. Just please get rid of them," And Isak was a little surprised at this point, because the other boy actually sounded… like he cared? The blonde knew that this was nothing but a game between them but Even's tone almost made him feel like it was more serious than that.

Pushing the highly unneeded thoughts out of his head, Isak's shoulders once again lifted into a light shrug. "There's really nothing I can do about it, sorry."

And instead of replying, Even just turned around and walked off. Isak watched in confusion as the other boy didn't make any attempt to ask the people outside his shop to leave, and just went inside as normal. And that was odd, because there had been a little bit of back-and-forth the last two times but Even had made no attempt to argue with Isak.

The next day, as Isak walked to the parlor, he was almost _disappointed_ to see that there were no rotten flowers outside of the parlor. In fact, there was no evidence at all that Even had tried to do _anything_ to gain the upper hand on him. For some inexplicable reason, the lack of Even's presence made him feel duller than usual.

Jonas — the bastard — took note of Isak's gloomy mood during a pre-game that they were having at Mahdi's house that night. "You alright, bro?" He asked quietly to Isak, nudging the smaller boy slightly with his shoulder.

Isak was most certainly not thinking about the fact that he would only be working at the tattoo shop for seven more days and he hadn't seen Even once since the incident with his customers earlier. "Yeah, man." He grunted back, lifting his beer can to his lips to take a long sip and trying his best not to let his sadness bleed through his words. Once, when Magnus was drunk off his ass, he had told Isak that he looked like a kicked puppy when he was sad, which _what the fuck_ , so Isak was trying his very best not to let his eyebrows draw down into a frown.

"Have you talked to that guy across the street lately? What did you say his name was?" Isak had told his friends about the "rivalry" that him and the other boy were having, and even though they found it a bit ridiculous, it had still felt good to talk about it and curse at Even out loud. But Jonas' tone told him that he had definitely figured out that there was something bothering him about the golden-haired boy.

"It's Even. And no, I haven't actually seen him so maybe he's taking a break from work," Lie. Isak saw Even everyday through the transparent entrance of the tattoo parlor, and he really tried his best not to stare but it was hard. For the first two days or so, he was just waiting for the other boy to maybe catch his eye and just _acknowledge_ Isak's presence, but that never came.

"Oh," Jonas murmured in response, bobbing his head in a silent nod. "Maybe you should go over one day and like, check?" And even though Isak thought that the suggestion was ridiculous when the words first left the brunette's mouth, he still paused and thought about it. Maybe he was onto something. The corner of Isak's lips twitched up into a little smile at Jonas and he just hummed a quiet agreement, taking another sip of his beer and tuning back into the conversation that Magnus and Mahdi were having about the chick that Mahdi had hooked up with at some party.

 

 iv. That was the explanation of how Isak found himself standing outside Even's flower shop two days later. He hadn't gathered up the courage to go the next day, trying and failing to exit the tattoo parlor a total of four times. He had asked Jonas to look over the shop for ten minutes while he was gone, trying to ignore the knowing look that the curly-haired boy gave him after he had told him where he was going. In fact, Jonas had asked him to take as long as he wanted because him and Chris were apparently more than willing to manage the parlor in the meantime. 

Isak took a deep breath before pushing in the doors to the flower shop, making his way inside, and clearing his throat rather loudly because Even's back was to him as he was sprinkling the flowers on the shelves with water.

The taller boy turned around, eyebrows raising in surprise as he met Isak's gaze. "Isak?" he questioned confusedly, and it took Isak a moment to remember that Vilde and Magnus had apparently told Even his name and that was how he knew it. It sounded nice coming out of the other boy's mouth, his voice deep and smooth and _velvety_. It took about three seconds for Isak to wonder what it would sound like if Even was moaning his name with that _voice_ of his. Good Lord, Isak was well and truly fucked.

"Um," Isak started, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the ground instead of Even. This was the first and last time that the boy would ever attempt to apologize to anyone because it was fucking awkward. Technically he wasn’t even apologizing, he just thought it'd be nice to buy some flowers for Sana — which was a perfect excuse for why he was there in the first place. It most definitely wasn’t because he wanted to see Even again and make sure that the other boy didn’t hate him. Of course not. "My friend, she's thinking of moving in with her boyfriend? So I thought I could get her some flowers as a kind of, housewarming present?" Both the sentences came out as questions instead of firm statements, and Isak distantly cursed himself. He hadn’t thought that this interaction would make him nervous but they both heard how his words quivered.

"So you want to buy her the flowers before she even moves?" Even asked, eyebrows raising once more as he looked at Isak with amusement. Fuck this. Isak would have walked out the door right then and there because he _knew_ that the other boy was teasing him, but he stayed put. At least it had been made clear to him that Even wasn’t mad — he just seemed way more amused than he needed to be.

"Um, yes? I think it would be a nice thing to do to buy her some flowers because she's done so much for me. Is it your job to fucking interrogate all your customers?" The last question slipped through Isak's lips before he even thought about it, and he felt a flush setting high on his cheeks. So much for being civil.

Even just smirked back at the smaller boy, shaking his head. "No, of course not. What kind of flowers were you thinking about?" He asked, gesturing to the rows and rows of lovely flowers lined up across the shelves on the walls. Isak didn't fucking know. Was he supposed to know what kind of flowers that Sana liked? Was that something that people just knew about each other?

Even probably saw the look of discomfort on Isak's face at the question and he shook his head again, a soft chuckle leaving his lips. "Why don't you just tell me what she's like and we can get the flowers that you think represent her?"

And just like that, about fifteen minutes passed by as Isak did his best to describe what Sana was like to Even. He thought it would be a nice touch to add another kind of flower to the bouquet too, figuring that it would be really cute if the other flowers represented Yousef in some way or the other. Honestly, he didn't know much about Yousef besides the fact that he was perpetually dopey around Sana but he just did his best to choose. In the end, they settled on a bouquet of a combination of several flowers: yarrows, which signified everlasting love, yellow roses, which symbolized new beginnings and goldenrods, which signified encouragement and good fortune. Instead of basing the flowers around their original personalities as he had intended to do, Isak decided that the flowers would be better off as serving as some sort of a "good luck" bouquet. He had the slightest inkling of a feeling that it hadn’t been easy for Sana to tell her mother about wanting to move in with Yousef, so the least that he could do was to let her know that he'd always be there for her.

As Even was compiling the flowers into a single bouquet behind the counter, he looked up at Isak with his brows furrowed down in concentration. "I'm attaching a little note with the meanings of all the flowers because I don't think you'd be very good at explaining it yourself," He murmured, pulling out a pen and neatly writing down the significance of the flowers on a small blue sheet. "What's her name? Just so i can address the note to her,"

"Sana," Isak replied, frowning slightly as Even immediately stilled and looked up a little so that his eyes were meeting Isak's. "What?" He questioned, feeling a little insecure under Even's gaze. God, he really needed to get his shit together.

"Sana, as in… Sana Bakkoush?" Even asked, which led to Isak's mouth dropping open rather dramatically as he stared at the other boy. "Um, yeah? How do you know her?"

A smile graced Even's lips and he set the pen down entirely, stretching a little so that he was at his full height and wasn't crouched over the counter. "I'm really close to her brother, Elias. We went to school together in Bakka," And as it turned out, Oslo really was a small place after all. Of fucking course Even knew Sana's brother because apparently the universe just wanted to fuck with him. And _oh_ , Isak suddenly recalled having heard Even's name before in conversations with Sana and Vilde but obviously he had never thought that _this_ was the Even that he had heard so many stories about.

"That's so ironic," Isak said after a moment's pause, a half-smile curving at his own lips too. Now that it had been established that they had an overlap in friends, Isak figured that it was probably time for them to learn to be civil to each other and squash whatever silly game they were playing. It seemed as if Even was thinking the same thing as he returned the smile, and it was the most genuine one yet that he had received from the other boy.

"I take it that we're starting over, then?" Even asked playfully, leaning against the wall behind him with practiced ease. It took all of Isak's strength to not let his eyes wander down the long lines of Even's body and he absently chewed on his lower lip, nodding.

And as Isak walked out of the small flower shop with a bouquet in his hands and a stupid smile on his face, he realized that he was well and truly fucked. Earlier, there was always the excuse of their silly rivalry to justify the tension that was so obvious between the two, but now, Isak had nothing to hide behind. And the fact that he couldn't look at Even for more than a few moments without feeling _something_ stir in his stomach told him that this was going to be a big problem. A huge fucking problem.

 

v. Two days later, Isak swore he was hallucinating when the parlor doors opened and Even walked in. They hadn't interacted with each other much since their last encounter, but for whatever reason, Isak couldn't get the thought of the golden-haired boy out of his head. When he gave the bouquet to Sana and she asked him where he got them from, Isak had gone beetroot red and was forced to let Sana interrogate him for the next fifteen minutes. She was just as bad, if not worse than Jonas when it came to reading Isak like an open book. 

Isak took a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself for talking to Even, letting his lips curve up into a small smile as the older boy reached the counter. "Hey," He greeted shortly, attempting to look as casual as possible and not like he had been openly staring into Even's shop for the last twenty minutes to try to catch a glimpse of him. That would be weird as fuck.

"Halla," Even replied with a raise of his brows, and Isak took a moment to get a good look at the older boy and he looked _good_. He wasn't wearing his usual work apron which made Isak wonder why he took it off before coming but it wasn’t like he minded.

"So… I made you something." Even said, as he rocked on the balls of his feet. It was then that Isak noticed that his hands were behind his back, as if he was holding something. Was this something that they were supposed to do for each other now? Isak couldn't make shit.

"Um, okay?" He responded, quirking his eyebrows at the taller boy in confusion. He watched as Even took his hands away from behind his back, revealing a _flowercrown._ It didn't look like most of the plastic ones that he passed in the mall; it looked handmade and was made with the prettiest flowers varying from the colors of pastel pink to deep red. There were even a few lilac flowers interspersed throughout.

"My mom usually makes the flowercrowns for our store, but I just thought that it'd be nice if I learnt how to make one and well," Even nodded down towards the crown in his hands, and Isak tried not to gape.

He realized then that the taller boy was expecting him to _wear_ the crown and the first thing that escapes his mouth is also his (extremely ineloquent) first thought. "That's so gay, Even." Isak inwardly cringes as soon as he says it, thinking back to all of the conversations that he had had with Eskild and Jonas about _internalized homophobia_ and _toxic masculinity_.

Even looked extremely unimpressed, giving Isak a look that made him want to take back the words immediately. "Wearing a flower crown won't define your sexuality," He murmured, in a matter-of-fact way and realistically, Isak _knew_ that and just wished that he hadn't said anything in the first place. Even had gone out of his way to make something for him and he was being an asshole about it. He almost wanted to tell the other boy that he was in fact _very gay_ but decided not to make things worse by talking any more than he needed to. Instead, he just looked up at the older boy, absently biting down on his lower lip. "Put it on for me?"

What he's expecting in return is a playful smile from Even, but he gets the complete _opposite_ as the other boy looks at him with an unreadable expression, gaze intent as he placed the crown on top of Isak's head. He's adjusting it a moment later, and despite the fact that the taller boy is barely touching him, Isak still feels like each of his nerve endings have been lit on fire.

And this— this was completely new to him. Yes, Isak might have overcome the point in his life where he had to come out and accept that he only liked boys, but he had still never hooked up with one — besides one or two kisses that he had shared with some guy when they were both wasted. But it hadn't been anything like the nearly tangible tension that he swore existed between him and Even, and he almost thinks that the other boy can feel it too as he steps back a little to get a good look at Isak with the flowercrown on.

Isak can imagine what he looks like — probably ridiculous — but the way that Even is looking at him like he wants to _eat_ him is saying something else. "You look beautiful, Isak," And fuck, the words were probably the most cliché ones that he could have said at that moment, sounded exactly like the kind of thing that Isak used to tell the girls that he picked up at parties, but it was just _so_ different in Even's smooth, confident voice.

He isn’t really sure how to reply, but he feels his face go hot at the compliment, still looking up at Even through his eyelashes. In that moment, he swears that they're going to kiss. He's not completely sure if he's imagining it, but Even seems to be inching closer towards him and Isak would just have to stand on his tiptoes for their lips to meet, and he's about to when—

"Isak! You've gotta come look at this bro, I don't—" Jonas suddenly stops talking when he sees Isak and Even, but Even has already moved back a step or two and put some real distance between them. However, he doesn't think Jonas can miss the way that both of them are breathing harder than normal and Isak is flushed scarlet.

"Um," Even said belatedly, movements jerky as he began walking backwards out of the store. "I'm gonna go," And with that, he turned around completely and walked out, making Isak feel like he had suddenly been drenched in cold water.

"What was that?" Jonas questioned, the two of them staring as Even hastily entered his own shop. Isak didn't answer, still feeling a little flustered. "What's that on your head?" It was then that Isak came to, turning slightly to face the brunette. He quirked his eyebrow at the question, absently reaching up to touch his head. His heart stuttered when he realized that Jonas was referring to the flowercrown that he had completely forgotten about, and he just shrugged helplessly at the other boy, thoughts still running too fast to actually form words.

He absolutely does _not_ keep the flowercrown on for the rest of the day. He also absolutely does _not_ flush red when Eva, Vilde and Chris enter the parlor an hour later and coo about how adorable he looks.

 

\+ i. It had been a few days since the last time Isak and Even talked and he hadn't seen the older boy once since their last meeting. Logically, Isak knows that all he has to do is walk the few metres over to the other boy's shop and just talk to him, but he suddenly felt odd about the whole situation. If Even really had been interested, why would he just walk away that day and leave Isak by himself? Why hadn't he made any more attempts to contact him, considering the fact that he was literally across the street from him? Actually, now that Isak thought about it, he hadn't seen Even in his shop for the past few days. He had only seen the older lady that he sometimes saw working at the shop, whom he assumed was Even's mother. Usually the two worked together but lately, Isak had only managed to catch sight of his mother. For all he knew, the other boy wasn’t even interested in boys and Isak had dreamed up the whole occurrence of Even almost kissing him.

Isak was definitely not moping in his room on a Friday night when he received a call from Magnus. The moment the other boy told him that there was going to be a party, Isak was ready to hang up. He was in no mood to go to a party, would much rather stay home and watch Netflix and pine over Even in peace. It was almost embarrassing how quickly he changed his mind when Magnus told him that the party was going to be at "one of Sana's brother's friends'" house.

So there he was, standing off to the side in a packed living room, absently sipping beer out of a red solo cup. The crowd at this party was a little different than the ones he was used to, the house mostly devoid of first and second years, and more so filled with what seemed like university students. However, he had seen Eva, Vilde, Sana and Chris earlier in the night so at least they weren't completely out of place.

Jonas and Magnus had slipped off with Eva and Vilde the moment that they had seen them, leaving Mahdi and Isak to their own devices. But then Mahdi apparently saw a girl that he had hooked up with at a party before and left too, meaning that Isak had been ditched by all three of his friends. If this had been a year and a half ago, this would probably be the time that Isak stalked off somewhere to find some girl to hook up with — he was infinitely glad that he no longer had to pretend for anyone.

He knew that it was probably the most cliché thing that could have happened at that moment, but it genuinely felt like time froze when he looked across the room and his eyes met Even's. It was evident that the other boy had to have been looking at him for at least a while now, considering the way that his gaze was trained solely on Isak.

Isak had about five seconds to prepare himself before Even was making his way over, weaving through the crowd easily. He has half a mind to set his cup down on the table beside him, just so that he doesn’t do anything outright embarrassing, like spill his drink all over himself or even worse, all over Even. Considering how packed the house was, Even had to lean in close for Isak to be able to hear him, effectively crowding the smaller boy against the wall as he leaned down a bit to say, "Hey," warm breath fanning over Isak's face.

"Um," Isak said intelligently, distracted by the proximity between the two and the way that Even was looking at him, pupils blown black. And this was so _unlike_ him, because Isak knows how to flirt, knows how to act cool and cocky when it's needed, but it was as if the mere presence of Even was enough to turn him into a stuttering mess. "Hi," He replied softly, knowing that the word would be barely audible over the loud music blaring in the house.

Even still smiled down at him however, before he asked, "Having a good time tonight?" to which Isak nodded absently. There was no denying the fact that he wanted Even, and wanted him _bad_. But he hadn’t seen the older boy in two days and had gotten no explanation as to why that was. So he placed a hand on Even's chest, not hard enough to push him back or anything, just to put some distance between them. The taller boy looked a bit confused as Isak's hand dropped but he maintained the distance, eyebrows knitted down.

"Where have you been for the last two days?" Isak asked, lower lip in between his teeth as he tried his best not to sound too dejected. Even looked surprised, as if he wasn't expecting to be asked that question by Isak. He stayed silent for a moment, eyes on Isak's face before he bit down on his own lip as well.

"I wasn't sure if I was misreading the signs," Even admitted lowly, and it definitely sounded like he was telling Isak something that he had mulled over for quite some time. Isak stared up at him, feeling his heart do a double flip at his words — so Even did like him back.

"You weren't," Isak said softly, words barely above a whisper. It was clear that Even only knew what he said because he was watching him so intently, because there was no way that his words were audible in the extremely loud living room.

He didn't miss the way that Even's eyes dropped down to his lips, and the taller boy was raising his eyebrows, as if he was asking for the younger boy's permission to close the distance between the two and Isak was nodding quickly, perhaps a little too eager but _well_.

Even leaned down a little bit so that their lips were _finally_ meeting, and it was just a soft press of lips against lips for a moment before Even pulled back again. "Is this okay?" The taller boy questioned once more, before Isak was pulling in Even by his shirt, their lips meeting with a little more force this time. It only took a moment for Isak's lips to part and Even's tongue was suddenly in his mouth as he pressed Isak against the wall with two firm hands against his waist.

A soft whine left Isak's mouth as Even's fingers trailed under his shirt, which was a little more risqué than he probably would've gone for at a party but at that moment he didn't give a fuck, letting Even do as he pleased as he tried to focus on kissing him back with some level of finesse.

Even's grip on Isak's waist became more insistent as he pinned him firmly to the wall, before he was shoving his leg between Isak's own two legs, a small gasp escaping the smaller boy's lips when Even rocked forward a bit, creating some wonderful friction between both of their lower halves.

"Even," Isak whined in the taller boy's ear, to which Even responded with a soft groan. He pulled away but kept his grip on Isak tight. "Do you wanna go upstairs?" He asked, and Isak lost track of time for a moment due to the way that the other boy was looking at him — face flushed, only a thin ring of blue surroundings his dilated pupils, chest heaving. His voice had dropped an octave lower than normal, something that Isak didn’t think was possible. Isak merely nodded, unable to really form words but knowing that he needed Even's lips back on his immediately. So he leaned forward once more, wrapping his arms around Even's neck as he brought him down for another heated kiss.

 

After receiving what was most definitely the best blowjob of his life — okay, so it might've also been the third, or maybe fourth one that he had ever gotten; but that didn't undermine how good it was — and getting his hand on someone's dick that wasn’t his own for the very first time in his life, Isak found himself curled up in bed with Even lying beside him. The whole experience had been all-consuming, Isak still able to clearly picture the way that Even had looked down at him while he was jerking him off against the wall, like he just wanted to _devour_ him. And in all honestly, Isak would happily let him.

The whole thing was just so different from hooking up with a girl, in all the best ways possible. And while the obvious signs pointed to the fact that Even was very much a boy and that was why it was so different for Isak, somewhere in the back of his mind, Isak knew for a fact that it was _Even_ that had made the whole thing so special.

"You know," Isak started softly, breaking the comfortable silence between the two. He raised his arm a little bit so that he was absently rubbing Even's bare upper arm lightly. "I knew that I wanted you the first time I saw you."

Even's eyebrows raised in disbelief. " _What_? You were being such an asshole the first time we met!" He exclaimed, playfully nudging Isak's bare ankle with his own, effectively hooking their ankles together underneath the covers.

"Yeah, but that's only because you were acting like you had the biggest stick up your ass," Isak remarked, trying not to grin at the other boy and failing horribly. Even simply chuckled softly as he shook his head a little bit, absentmindedly caressing Isak's cheekbone with his thumb and forefinger.

Even's expression faded as he stared at Isak, and the change was noticeably jarring because Even wasn't smiling at him anymore and he just looked _sad_. Isak immediately hoped that it wasn't because he was regretting anything that they had done together, because Isak would be heartbroken if he found out that none of this meant anything to Even. Before he got the chance to speak though, Even beat him to it.  

"Isak, there are some things… that you don't know about me, and I'm just not sure if you'll still like me after you find out about them." The words are soft, so quiet that Isak is almost sure that he's imagined it.

He thinks back to those hushed conversations that he had heard between Sana and Vilde about the guy that went mental at Elvebakken a year ago, the one that had to redo his third year because of a suicide attempt, the same one that broke up with his girlfriend of four and a half years because it had all been too much for him. Then, he thinks back to his own mother and the breakdown that she had had when he was only sixteen, the explosive divorce between his parents, how he learned to love and be there for her when she needed him most, even though she hadn't always been there for him.

A soft smile ghosted at Isak's lips as his arm stilled somewhere along Even's back. "I like you a lot, Even. We've all got shit in our past and I'm not going to stop liking you because of it, okay?" Isak felt bad for pretending that he didn’t know what Even was talking about, but decided that that was going to be a conversation that they could have another time — for now, he just wanted to lie here with the other boy and make sure that the mood between them was chill. Even had told him that this was actually his friend Mikael's house and this was the guest bedroom that more-or-less belonged to Even. So they could stay there for as long as they needed to.

The smile that he gets in response is blinding. Even looks beautiful like this, with his tongue pressed against his teeth and his eyes crinkled with the force of his smile. Isak knows that if he isn’t careful, he could find himself getting addicted to this boy — and honestly, he can't say that he would mind it all that much.


End file.
